Sonic Retro:Getting Started

You've read some pages, poked around a bit and are ready to get started on contributing to Sonic Retro? Perhaps you're familiar with other wikis, such as Wikipedia, and want a quick rundown on what's similar and different between other projects and us or you want to know specifically what we need work and help on--in any case, this is the place to start.

The basics: how to make the best possible page

First, it wouldn't hurt to take a quick run through the tutorial, which covers things like wiki markup and basic formatting. If you want to get more in-depth, check out the help section. Once you feel confident enough to start a page, use the search box at the top of the page to see if there is already an article on that subject. If not, throw the name into the article creator box at the top of the page.

Start by addressing the subject of the page in bold; for instance, the beginning of a page on The Weather in London would look something like:

The Weather in London is very wet. Why? Because it rains a lot.

After that, write away with whatever content you'd like the article to contain. Be sure to use headers (created by using equal signs, such as ==Why it rains so often==) to divide between major ideas. At the end, place a category link at the bottom, such as [[Category:Weather]]. The wiki has a a large list of categories, so you should be able to find what you need to place the article under.

If your article only contains one or two sentences, it is considered a sub-stub. Flag this by typing {{sub-stub}} at the beginning of the article so other editors can be notified to expand on it. If it the article has a paragraph or so, it is considered a stub, and should be flagged with {{stub}}.

What should I make an article on?

The following are acceptable things to write about on Sonic Retro:

• Games, levels, characters, items, etc.: Anything from the Sonic the Hedgehog series of games is considered worthy of an article. Even if the subject matter is too weak to hold its own article, it may be merged into a larger article, so everything is welcome.
• Information from other official Sonic universes (comics, TV shows, etc.): Although this aspect is not emphasized as much in this wiki (and certainly not as much as Wikipedia, for instance), we still cover alternate canons of the Sonic universe.
• Fan-created content (websites, fangames, hacks, etc.): Most major fan content is worthy of a page; in fact, Sonic Retro was started as a database to note all of these fan creations. However, inclusion/exclusion is up to the community at large to deem whether the page is worth having or not.
• You!: Another founding part of Sonic Retro was to document everyone in the Sonic scene, so go ahead: create a vanity article about yourself or someone else in the User: namespace.

How is Sonic Retro similar and different from Wikipedia?

Similarities

• Both Sonic Retro and Wikipedia use the GFDL: Both resources are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, and as such, are open for free use and editing. Both Retro and Wikipedia have borrowed from each other and will likely continue this relationship in the future.
• Both wikis use the same style conventions: Both sides italicize titles, bold article starts, use templates--style is exactly the same.
• Both run MediaWiki: The most popular wiki software on the Internet is utilized by both sites; all markup is the same.

Differences

• We cover a LOT more: Unlike the Sonic the Hedgehog section of Wikipedia, we have articles on smaller things: individual levels, fan content, individual people.
• More emphasis on retro games: You'll notice Sonic 2 has far more content than Sonic Heroes. There's a reason behind this: the site emphasizes older games more. This is also very apparent for non-game continuities such as the various TV shows.
• Integration of other concepts and ideas than just encyclopedic content: Unlike Wikipedia, which sticks to content articles, Sonic Retro contains music and hack downloads, definitions, and hacking notes embedded into articles, just to name a few.

What can I do to help out?

Check the following pages:

• Category:Cleanup
• Category:Stubs
• Category:Sub-stubs
• Special:Wantedpages

These list pages that either need to be created, expanded on or cleaned up. If that doesn't interest you, flag down what needs to be corrected--Sonic Retro:Cleanup lists various templates that can be applied to pages to note what needs to be done to them. Spellcheck. Edit for grammar. Upload an image. Anything helps!

I’m ready to contribute!

Do you feel that you now know enough about Sonic Retro, its software, and wikis in general to help make our wiki even better? Great! Find an article to which you can contribute new or improved information, and edit away. Or, if you have something that you think we should document but that currently doesn’t have a page, create one of your own: type the title of your new page into the box near the top of the page, click Go, and choose to Create this page when told that it doesn’t yet exist. Enjoy!